Anyone with a best friend can tell you what an absolute treasure they are to have. No matter what we go through in life, the ups, the downs, mountains, hills, and valleys, it’s always easier to take with best friends at our side. Even though time can have a way of putting distance between you, each of you knows that it doesn’t hurt your friendship one bit because, well, it’s just too strong to break.

That is something that Olive Woodward and Kathleen Saville can both attest to, as they have been best friends for 79 years now since they were just 11-years-old.

The best friends, both of which who are now 89-years-old, have been inseparable since the day they were seated next to each other at the Ravenshead School in Nottinghamshire, England back in 1941.

Olive and Kathleen seem to have been destined to be best friends.

The two buds have more in common than just where they went to school. Both of the sassy broads were raised on the very same street in Mansfield. Though over the years their careers took the ladies down separate paths, both of their husbands worked for the same outfit, the Coal Board, and so they’ve remained close all their lives.

Decades later, the best friends are even closer now that Olive has joined Kathleen at her care home.

No friendship is without its trials, and Kathleen went through a tough one when she lost her husband 31 years ago in 1989. The upbeat woman that she is, she carried on as Olive helped carry her through it, and continued to live on her own until a couple of years ago when she moved into the Mansfield Berry Hill Park care home.

Olive joined Kathleen in widowhood in 2004. She has been surrounded by her large family of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In her older years, though, Olive longed to be closer to her best friend.

Last year in 2019, Olive reunited with Kathleen as best friends and neighbors when she moved into the same care home.

“When Kathleen moved into the home I missed her and I used to go and see her every Saturday for lunch. Then I thought, why don’t I move in too?” Olive explains.

Not only did Olive score a place at the complex, but she lives right across the hall from her lifelong bestie. According to Sally Tebett, the care home manager, the pair are as mischievous as ever.

“The sparkle is still there. They are full of mischief. Kathleen is a proper flirt and has her lippy on every day. She says ‘If you have got it, flaunt it.’ Olive is a bit more reserved but they egg each other on. We always love to see friendships blossoming amongst residents, so it was even more special that our care home reunited such dear friends. They never stop chatting and giggling. It’s so endearing, they genuinely love each other and you can see that. Since they have been reunited, Kathleen and Olive have been inseparable, causing just as much mischief in the home as they used to when they became friends 78 years ago.”

Now that the best friends are in each other’s daily lives once more, they feel as young and boisterous as they did when they were just kids.

“We don’t cause any trouble in the home, but we sometimes have to knock the staff into shape. I just raced one of the managers down the hallway for a laugh. I’m so glad Olive is here now, we’re like giggling school girls and we still put on our lippy and get dressed up. We always say to each other ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it,” Kathleen said of getting to live in the same home as her BFF.

While many of us are lucky enough to experience having a best friend at some point in our lives, these two have held a bond so thick that it’s seen them through decades of friendship. To hear them tell it, though, there is a key to keeping their treasured friendship alive.

When asked what their secret is to remaining best friends through everything life throws at people, Olive and Kathleen had a very simple answer; they never argue.

“She is jolly and a good laugh and we don’t argue. We are still capable of looking after ourselves and each other. We lived around the corner from each other all our lives so living down the hall seemed an obvious thing to do. I feel very lucky to have my best friend down the hall. We’ve built many memories together and we’re making more every day … If I’m unhappy or in trouble I only have to go to Kathleen and we’ll always end up laughing,” said Olive of her bestie.

Kathleen’s secret to their happy bond was much the same as Olives:

“We are 89 but we look 63. We have been good friends and never fallen out. We are still good looking. We have never argued over anything. She’s a good friend … I just knew we would always be friends when I met Olive. She means a lot to me. We’ve stayed friends by telling each other what we think and never arguing. If Olive goes first she’ll come back to fetch me. We’re going to be friends in heaven.“

That, my friends, is the best #goal that anyone could ever aim for. Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: LadBible/BoredPanda/Today